ONE piece of the drought-proofing puzzle has landed in Tamworth as parts of the Chaffey Dam pipeline have been trucked in.
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Water NSW has begun work on the critical emergency pipeline from Chaffey to Dungowan village and set itself the ambitious completion date of March 1, 2020.
A spokesperson for Water NSW said the 18.2 kilometre pipeline was a drought response and a long-term solution.
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"The pipe size and flow rate was selected to meet both the short-term drought response, and longer-term population growth of Tamworth," the spokesperson said.
"The pipeline will be able to meet the average day demand up to the year 2045.
"Additionally, the pipeline can be augmented later to supply up to 60 megalitres per day."
Under level 5 water restrictions, Tamworth and Moonbi-Kootingal residents are consuming about 16 megalitres per day.
The $3.4 million pipeline is expected to save the city 17,000 megalitres a year and mitigate in-stream water losses for the city's supply.
The pipeline is expected to extend Chaffey's supply to June 2021 without any significant inflow.
Temporary weirs are also being built to help stretch the remaining water stored in Chaffey Dam.
The dam was listed at 17.5 per cent capacity on Wednesday.
It's understood the first temporary Peel River weir will be completed by November 30.